A sake drinker Ichibay reports events that occur in his daily life and coveys his casually conceived ideas, focusing especially on sake and sake-related items and events. He sometimes writes about his short trips in his country Japan or provides some Japanese cultural stuff related to kimono, local performing arts, etc.

Apr 4, 2010

Happy Kawagoe!

Saturday, friends and I went to Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, after a long absence for viewing sakura blossoms.

In the small river behind the Hikawa Shrine were people enjoying a boat ride. On the river banks, sakura flowers were in full bloom.We ate lunch with COEDO beer, the beer of Kawagoe.

But, I liked to eat more and to drink sake. I went to the restaurant Furin (風凛), where they have the reputed Kawagoe sake, Kagamiyama (鏡山)!At Renkeiji Temple, there being held was a kimono contest.Among the participants was such a nice lady clad in quite sexy kimono. I asked her to pose with me, and she kindly did so."Do you care for this mammoth size ramen?"This is what I bought for myself: Junmai Ginjo KagamiyamaI frequent this town of Kawagoe, where I really enjoy being. Saturday, I also had a nice day there in Kawagoe. Thank you, Kawagoe City.

3 comments:

From Tokyo, you can get to Kawagoe (Hon-Kawagoe Station) in one hour and half. Use Seibu-Shinjuku line from Takada-no-baba Station, or Seibu-Ikebukuro line from Ikebukuro Station. If you use Seibu-Ikebukuro line, you need to change line at Tokorozawa to Seibu-Shinjuku line. If you have any question, do not hesitate to ask me anytime. As to Kagamiyama, it tastes rich in koji flavor, but I am not good at describing sake taste. For further tasting retails, I hope you can have a chance to drink it by yourself.They are making this sake in very small units, using only the futa-koji or hako-koji method and pressing moromi by the fukuro-shibori method. If necessary, they use only the bin-hiire method to pasteurise their sake.Their production is very limited, and I think it is difficult to purchase their sake outside Kawagoe City. So, if you have a chance to visit Kawagoe, Kagamiyama is your must!